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The opening of the archaeological flour store in Baalbek

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Suleiman Amhaz
The municipality of Baalbek and the Lebanese Association for coexistence and development inaugurated the project of rehabilitation and restoration of the archaeological site “Mughr al-Tahin” in Baalbek, implemented by the United Nations Human Settlements Program UN-Habitat, funded by the Italian agency for development and cooperation, under the auspices of the minister of Culture Mohammed Daoud represented by the Director General of Antiquities Sarkis Khoury, and in the presence of MP Bakr al-Hujairi, former MP Emile Rahma, patron of the Baalbek diocese for Roman Catholics Bishop Elias Rahal, Mufti of Baalbek Hermel Sheikh Khaled al-Solh, mayor of Baalbek Baalbek Fouad blog, representative of the Italian agency for development and cooperation Hussein Fakih, representative of UN-Habitat lady Habshi, head of the Baalbek Hermel governorate Department of Civil Defense Bilal Raad, president of the Association of engineers and civil organization specialists engineer Firas Mortada, director of antiquities in the Bekaa engineer Lor Salloum, former mayors and municipal federations, religious and social events.

The ceremony began with the Lebanese national anthem, followed by the Italian national anthem.

Haider

The host of the ceremony, Dr. Sahar Nabih Haider, made a presentation about the project and said: the lure of flour, the Arij of ancient history… studies confirm that it was inhabited for thousands of years, in what was known as Flint villages, which are dozens of caves and caves interconnected by basements and doors.

Some archeology experts believe that the Roman state used maghreh to house thousands of workers who built the castle.evidence of this is that maghreh has domed Catacombs distributed in three directions: the first corridor, its path from maghreh towards the south and reaches the castle and its temples, while the second corridor takes a western path towards Kayal, where the archaeological quarry, and the third corridor connects maghreh with Sheikh Abdullah Hill east overlooking the castle.

Other experts have described it as a Roman quarry that was reused at the end of the Roman period as burials carved into the Quarry Rock. Its name was associated with flour due to its brittle calcareous nature…

The lure of archaeological flour brings us together this evening, to return to the Bekaa civilization some of what was missing thanks to the efforts of the UN Habitat program and funded by the Italian agency for development and cooperation،

In cooperation with the municipality of Baalbek and the Lebanese Association for coexistence and development, all of us thank them with all our gratitude and appreciation.”

Balook

The mayor of Baalbek, Haj Fouad blog, considered that “this site simulates the memory of the generations that lived next to it, and this pause today connects the past with the present, and foresees the prospects of the future. In the municipal council, civil society organizations and NGOs, we pay attention to this cultural heritage left to us by our ancestors, as it lives in our minds a heritage that we must show and improve to keep pace with the greatness of the archaeological and tourist city of Baalbek”.

He stressed that ” Baalbek municipality is working on developing a tourism plan linking the tourist and the city to create an economic cycle that matches the level of development we are looking forward to,” pointing out that “the rehabilitation of this landmark reflects the actual partnership between the municipality, civil society and people, and forms the basis of the concept of sustainable human development.

He concluded:”While we emphasize our commitment to our land and its defense, and all the world cultural heritage it contains, We are keen on the actual and continuous partnership with the European Union and the United Nations institutions concerned with development programs, and we also hope for the continuation of the strategic relationship with the Italian partner, and this great work that we are doing today is the definitive proof of the depth of this relationship.

Abyssinian

Then Habshi spoke and pointed out that”this project comes in the context of the focus of the United Nations Human Settlements Program on empowering local authorities, removing damage to the most marginalized neighborhoods in Lebanon, and comes with a social, economic and tourist benefit, and also restores the value of this archaeological site to the forefront again, so that the city of Baalbek adds an additional star in the space of its cultural and civilizational excellence”.

”The idea of the project started when our field survey program started in cooperation with NGOs, headed by the Lebanese Association for coexistence and development, and the residents of the neighborhood who spared no effort to complete our research and identify urgent needs in the sectors of buildings, housing and infrastructure,”she said.

She concluded:”the restoration and rehabilitation project of the flour mill lifted the damage to the site by addressing the problem of sanitation and all the factors leading to its deterioration, to become a first-class tourist landmark”.

Hasan

Speaking on behalf of the Lebanese Association for coexistence and Development, Dr. Hussein Hassan, said:”a group of young people gathered under the banner of the association, rejected the atmosphere of negativity, deprivation and surrender, and decided to light candles instead of just cursing the darkness, and the beginning was with the statue of the Virgin Mary, as a message expressing the one life between the people of Baalbek Hermel and the Bekaa, followed by honoring the figures who gave Baalbek in various fields, and a mural decorated the Baalbek market, symbolizing Lebanese art and festivals, carried pictures of great artists Fairouz, Sabah and Wadie Safi”.

He continued: “when we see today this Baalbek wedding with the completion of our project to restore and rehabilitate the site of Mughr al-Tahin in the most beautiful way, the heart grows, and we announce from here that this project is the beginning of other projects, including the AL-Shamis neighborhood, caves and rock quarries on Sheikh Abdullah Hill.

He pointed out that”the project was not limited to the site, but included improving the surroundings, adding expressive cosmetic and artistic drawings on the walls of neighboring houses, hoping that this place will turn into a site where life takes place, whether by attracting tourists or by holding celebrations, poetic and literary evenings and art exhibitions”.

Solh

For his part, Mohamed Solh said:”We decided to go out with our project from Al-Mughar to Al-Hara, the street and the ocean so that people would feel joy and that they are an essential part of this work, and there are many unknown soldiers who contributed with us, including the executing engineer Rabie al-Rifai, supervising engineer Omar Solh, engineer Laure Salloum, municipal engineer Saad al-Din Arafat, lighting executive Lynn al-Rifai, boys and young people who felt that Al-Mughar concerned them with all their pains, so they dedicated themselves to the work”.

Khoury

Engineer Sarkis Khoury, Director General of Antiquities, conveyed at the beginning of his speech the greetings of the minister of Culture Mohammed Daoud, who was absent from the ceremony due to special emergency reasons, and said:”We are very pleased to accomplish this work in cooperation with the municipality, donors, associations and all the local community, to rehabilitate and restore the site of Mughr al-Tahin, and our cooperation with the Italian agency for development, cooperation is not the first, we have cooperated in the National Museum and several projects and stations.

“The Ministry of culture considers itself an economic ministry par excellence, Lebanon, despite its small area, is culturally rich, and Baalbek is considered one of the most important archaeological sites in the world, and this place is a great pride for Lebanon and the people of the city, so I think this is a Lebanese and international wedding, not just Baalbek, and this site is among the world heritage of humanity,”he said.

He pointed out that ” the weak financial capabilities of the Ministry of culture have prevented us from carrying out many works and programs, but this did not prevent us from fulfilling our duties, and during the days of Minister Salameh, we were able to secure 50 million dollars to finance the cultural heritage project implemented by the council for development and reconstruction”.

He added: “the municipalities are our local partner, we always extend our hand to them and to civil associations” The city of Baalbek receives about 150 thousand visitors annually, but we are looking forward to the number of visitors reaching two million tourists annually in Baalbek, and we have launched small and medium projects at the ministry that contribute to sustainable development,”he said.

“Monuments and archaeological sites depend for their protection on the local community and people’s awareness of the value and importance of this national wealth,”he concluded.